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Saturday, 30 June 2012

Jake, Corky, Sarah and Jack went missing and two intrepid parties went looking for them. They found Jack, but that's another story...

Here's the Ville de Nancy scratch built to 28mm specs by Mark Mod down New Orleans way. Pictures do not do it justice and it was an honor being able to run a demo game with. Kind of set the bar pretty high as well!

Game was for 8 people and 16 showed up. Easy peasy, just run two parties of eight and split the objectives. FYI - I never close my convention games so if you're at one and want to play, just step right up. This was a blend of Larger Than Life and Chain reaction 3.0 the Final Version. Download it here for free.

The volcano can be seen off in the distance.

The natives were friendly...right up until they shot a few.

They thought the little monkeys were cute...right up until two of them were knocked unconscious by thrown stones. But shots in the air scared them away.

The next time the monkeys brought their big brothers...no problem!

The other party found their way to a lost temple guarded by a samurai who looked pretty familiar. He convinced them to leave and they did.

Ran into the monkeys again except this time they brought a friend.

A big friend.

Anyway the other party reached the volcano and .... well that's for another time. All in all a great game!

You find
yourself in an Ale Hall somewhere in Mirholme, sitting at a corner table. The
ale-maid is trying to catch your attention but tonight you’re focused on other
things. You don’t usually talk with Elves but something about this one is
different. Maybe it’s the urgency in her voice or the continuous supply of ale
she’s been buying but you keep listening. When she’s finished she wants to
know, will you take the job? Deal! She gives you coin to pay the tab and
instructions where to meet here on the morrow. She thanks you and leaves. As
she makes her way to the door you look for that ale-maid. That’s when you
notice three hooded men get up from their table and hurry towards the door. Is
it just a coincidence or something more?

And so your
story begins…

Warrior
Heroes - Legends

This is a quick little AAR based on the upcoming Warrior Heroes - Legends. I used a blurb from the rear cover to set the scene. WH-L is all about individuals characters and their small band of followers. It's a more detailed character driven game and in THW terms think Sword and Sorcery meets 5150: New Beginnings. Anyway, on with our story...

After leaving the tavern the Elf was followed by two thugs.

Make that three! The scene is set and Activation dice are rolled.

"Private party or can anyone join?"

Activating first our hero from the tavern, who was following, enters the alley and this triggers an In Sight. As the thugs have their back to him this puts them at a disadvantage. Rolling 1d6 per level of Rep for each figure gives hero 4, thug closest 3, and the thug closest to the Elf scored 0. Hero goes first...

Hero (Rep 5 Warrior Star) passes more on the Charge into Melee Test and attacks the closest thug (Rep 4 Soldier). Going to Melee hero starts with 5d6 for Rep and adds +1 for using One Hand Weapon, +1 for two weapons and +1 for Rage. Rolling 8d6 scores 5 successes. Thugs rolls 4+1+1 for 6d6 and scores 3 successes. Hero wins and scores a result of OD on the thug. Winning the melee allows him to continue rest of move and attacks second thug.
Wins Charge into Melee and the fight starts. Bam! Second verse same as the first! OOF thug.

The hero wins the melee and with the remainder of his move steps in front of the Elf.

The third thug now take a Man Down Test and passes 1d6. If no others carrying on, Duck Back.

The third thug ducks down the alley.

That's it? That's the whole game? Yep. WH-L games will vary in length. Some will be quick story advancing games like this one some will be much longer, like dungeon adventuring. The plan is to provide scenarios that can be played with natural breaks to allow you to set it aside and get back to it when you can. This allows you to play as many hours as you like at each sitting.

Friday, 29 June 2012

The Hishen Department of Truth reports that a Hishen led coalition of Hishen, Zhuh-Zhuhs, Xeog and Free Company Freedom Fighters turned back a Gaea Prime invasion in the Cestus V sector in the 4th Ring.
Gaea Prime has vehemently denied all allegations and claim that the Hishen were the aggressors and struck without provocation. As proof Gaea Prime spokesmen point to heavy casualties amongst the Cestus V Planetary Defense Force fleet. As the PDF are not equipped for deep space travel, Insta-Poll results show a GP Credibility Rating of 73%.
Reports are coming in daily that both sides are building up their forces in the sector.

Vid-Caps of the conflict provided by the Eternal Free Press.

Coalition fleet prepare for battle.

PDF and Free Company fighters launch. Upward of 35 1st Rate ships and 50 squadrons of fighters were engaged.

Sunday, 24 June 2012

After the Horsemen goes to the editor tomorrow and Jackie says it'll be finished next week. Here's a quick play test. Sometimes the game isn't fair.

Picture 1 shows thew table top set up. This is a 30" square card table with 6" terrain tiles. To get the biggest bang for the buck I choose move from tile to tile, no measuring needed, and resolving PEFs if they are in adjacent tiles.
Picture 2 shows my characters. T is a Rep 5 Lone Wolf Star with a shotgun. Ashley is a Rep 4 Lone Wolf Grunt with an Assault Rifle. Lone Wolves are limited to one additional character in their group. Want more Grunts? Then you would play a Pack Wolf.

Picture 3 shows our Lone Wolves moving adjacent to two PEFs. Diagonal tiles are always considered to be farther away than horizontal or vertical tiles. I resolve the green PEF first. It is a small 3 man group of Pack Wolves. T takes a People Challenge Test and we can barter with them and swap info.
In ATH each character has Rep and three Skills, Fitness, People and Savvy. These Skills are used when taking Challenges such as interacting with neutral groups. This can go good, like this one did, or bad where the neutrals become enemies.

Speaking of enemies picture 4 shows the orange PEF resolved as 4 Pack Wolves. Teo Rep 3's, a Rep 4, and a Rep 5 leader.
Picture 5 shows the results of the In Sight Test. Ashley will be able to fire first, T last, and two of the wolves not at all!
Picture 6 shows Ashley has fired and Out of the Fight the Rep 4 Pack Wolf. She also has run out of ammo. Not good!
Picture 7 shows the Rep 5 leader firing next and scores two hits on T, an Out of the Fight and Obviously Dead. But T's a Star so can roll Star Power...5d6 are rolled and it doesn't help! T remains OD. Lucky for him he can use his Cheating Death rule. This means he survives the Encounter but reduces his Rep by 1. I figure that the Pack Wolves will just leave him for dead.

Picture 8 shows the situation after the In Sight is resolved. Ashley is out of ammo and facing three opponents. She can't reload but can still move. She declares that she wants to leave the table and the Encounter.This represents her running like hell ducking for cover to get away. There's a rule for this but every opponent with a LOS at the start of the move or that gets a LOS while she is running away gets a chance to fire.
Ashley is shot down and Out of the Fight - Picture 9.
The Encounter is over. This was a one off fight but if it were a Campaign Ashley would roll on the Mercy Table to see what the Pack Wolves decided to do with her.

T lived to fight another day, at a lower Rep, but for Ashley her luck ran out.

I prefer playing small skirmish games when it comes to sci-fi with 5150: New Beginnings being my favorite. Small groups of figures, more personal scale. But 5150: NB is set on New Hope City and sometimes I want a quick and easy space game that's more of a story driving vehicle than an actual wargame so I did this small action using 5150: Star Navy.
As Star Navy is fleet scale I knew that this wouldn't take very long and it didn't. About twenty minutes and a few turns including pictures and notes.

Perfect! From this quick game I can see at least five new stories.
What happened to the merchant ship that surrendered?
Where did the other two ships go?
Who exactly are these pirates?
What did the pirate mean when he asked if they were all paid up?
What do the pirates do with their stolen cargo?

Thursday, 21 June 2012

The Eternal Free Press has obtained footage of a major battle that occurred within the last 48 hours between the Hishen Imperial Navy and Gaea Prime backed mercenaries. The actual location of the battle cannot be confirmed but EFP reporter Ashlynn Cooper has confirmed her sources.

File footage provided by the Eternal Free Press.

The engagement was between thirty plus ships and resulted in the destruction of the Free Company fleet. When asked for comment the Hishen Ministry of Information reported that there had been an action near one of their colonies but "The Hishen Imperial ships acquitted themselves with honor and glory, destroying numerous ships including the flagship of the pirate fleet."

Hishen fighters and destroyers apply the coup de grace on the pirate flagship.

When reached for information the Gaea Prime diplomats questioned the validity of the information pointing out that the reporter, Ashlynn Cooper, "...has not been heard from for quite some time. Perhaps she has decided a career change was in her best interest."

It had been a long season and it was coming to a close. Thomas and Blue Shirt collected their fur bundles (19 total) and headed back towards Fort New Hope. They were eager to trade their furs and be on their way. Blue Shirt would head back to his village while Thomas would... Well he hadn't thought that far yet but after all these months in the woods eating a hot meal and sleeping in a real bed looked mighty good.

"The fort is just over that ridge," Blue Shirt said. He had been there many times and knew he could get a good price for their furs. Not as good as the French, not yet, but still good. Besides the French weren't too friendly any more.

Thomas and Blue Shirt make their way towards the fort. Note the three PEF markers nearby.

Blue Shirt raised his hand signalling for them to stop. Thomas heard them coming as well, something he would not have been able to do when he first started the year but the woods have a way of teaching you if you want to learn.

The first PEF is resolved. Two Indian warriors meet and greet Blue Shirt and Thomas.

Blue Shirt spoke to the two Indians and they exchanged tobacco and food. As they left Blue Shirt told Thomas what they had said. "War is coming between the British and French."

"It's not my fight." Thomas replied. They continued on.

******************************************************

I started Thomas's story in 1754, the year that the French and Indian War broke out. The duo had already had fights with French Irregulars, soldiers and French Allied Indians so it seemed to make sense that the war should be official. Besides it would be a great way for me to start my Muskets and Mohawks campaign now that this one was winding down.

******************************************

The second PEF is resolved while the third PEF splits into two.

The second PEF proved to be a scouting party of British Allied Indians.

Thomas could only make out bits and pieces of what was being said between Blue Shirt and the scouts but he knew it involved the French. After they left Blue Shirt told him the news.

"They are scouting the approaches to New Hope. The French are headed this way with soldiers and cannon."

"Then we need to sell our furs and get out of here. The sooner the better," Thomas replied. He wanted no part of a war.

*************************************************

The third PEF is resolved as British Regulars.

As Blue Shirt and Thomas reach the ridge a small group of British regulars confront them. Words are exchanged and the trappers explain to the Sergeant the purpose of their visit. The soldiers resume their lookout and the trappers turn towards the fort.

Another PEF, this time from the fort, comes into sight

Blue Shirt swings his rifle to his shoulder and takes aim. Startled but following the lead Thomas raises his rifle. As the soldiers watch in stunned silence five shots ring out! The three figures from the fort and the trappers have fired. Blue Shirt falls to the ground as does Thomas. Two of the figures from the fort fall as well. Thomas feels a pain in his chest but catches his breath. Looking up he sees the cold steel of a bayonet. "Take them to the fort and the Major!"

********************************************

So what happened? As the duo reached the ridge they entered a second table of nine sections. This caused three new PEFs to be spawned. The first activated first and came into LOS of the trappers causing it to be resolved. This was resolved as French Irregulars. In a British fort?

I carried out the combat then figured out what had happened. The French Irregulars were actually pretending to be trappers to gain access to the fort. They had gotten as much info as they could and were headed out when they spied Blue Shirt and Thomas. Both sides recognized each other from a past run in so the French thought it better to fire first and explain later. Blue Shirt went first and shot down the French Leader (OD) but was in turn hit in the chest (OOF). Thomas scored an OOF on one of the other Irregulars but took a OD result to the chest. Lucky for him he used Star Power to get it down to Stunned.

I figured the British couldn't know what was going on so I had them immediately arrest all the participants. It was now time for a trial. Luckily this is covered in 5150: New Beginnings and could be used without modifications.

**********************************************

"I find the defendant guilty of spying and sentence him to death," the dour man said. "Take him away!"

As the guards led the Frenchman away the Major turned to the trappers. "As for you two the evidence proves you have acted in good faith and are innocent. Your furs will be returned to you, less court and counsel costs. You are free to go."

Thomas and Blue Shirt made their way to the general store and traded their furs.

************************************************

In Long Rifle you trade your furs at the end of the season for Fame Points and these are used to increase your Rep. There are two ways to increase Rep and one involves rolling d6. But when you reach 20 Fame Points you automatically go up. Thomas had seen his Rep go up to 5 over the year and this would get him to Rep 6 without rolling. BTW - Rep 6 sounds really good but it doesn't stop you from becoming Obviously Dead!

To trade you roll 1d6 for each fur bundle. A result of 1 means the fur was of inferior quality and worth nothing while a 6 means exceptional quality and worth 2 Fame Points. Any other result would be 1 Fame Point. The trappers had 19 fur bundles but had to spend 4 for court and counsel costs so would be able to trade 15. After the rolling they would split 16 Fame Points. This gave Thomas a total of 16 Fame Points so far. Truthfully, I had much higher expectations at the beginning of the season. Maybe trapping isn't where it's at.

**************************************************

Thomas and Blue Shirt took their earnings from the trade and stepped outside. As they were saying their goodbyes they noticed soldiers running from one side of the fort to the other and shouts as well."This doesn't look good, " Thomas thought. "We'd better go."

As the two trappers made for the gate they saw two of the Indian scouts returning, helping a badly wounded third. The gates slammed shut!

The Major ran to the scouts and after a quick conversation began to shout orders. Thomas and Blue Shirt got to the gate but it had been barred. They heard the Major say...

"And grab those two trappers. They're part of our Irregulars now, take them to their commanding officers!"

**************************************************

I had just finished painting my15mm fort and had laid it out on the table for my first M&M battle when I thought that I'd use it to finish off the Long Rifle campaign with Thomas. I figured to play out the scenario and then move on to the battle. Except things went wonky with the French Irregulars coming out of the fort which led to the trial, which set Thomas back a few days so I thought, what the heck. Let's include him in the upcoming M&M campaign. The nice thing is that M&M and Long Rifle are complimentary so doing so would be easy. I guess it is Thomas's fight after all.

Watch for the first part of the Muskets & Mohawks campaign Fight for Fort New Hope.